Could Google Earth Murals Be The New Billboards?

Taking inspiration from Molly Dilworth’s recently painted rooftop murals, we began to consider if satellite art could become the new advertising billboard. Dilworth painted three murals on NYC rooftops with the intention of having the artwork showing up on Google Earth. Once the paintings eventually did appear on Google’s satellite images, Dilworth ended up being disappointed that the quality of the image was not as vibrant as she had anticipated.

However, while this endeavor may not have been a complete success as an art platform, it does create an interesting opportunity to explore a new media display space: imagine if a brand used building rooftops as “pixels,” and placed its logo over a whole city block. The potential is enticing, especially with the rise of mapping applications and the benefit of geotargeted advertising.